Most toothbrushes for infants and young children have tended to be merely miniaturized versions of the bristle-type tooth brushes developed for adults. These miniaturized versions typically failed to recognize and make accommodations for the special brushing needs of infants and small children. One of these needs which has been recognized in the past is the need to provide a specially designed brushing or cleaning head that is more suitable for the immature structure of the milk teeth and fragile gums of infants and young children. Toward this end, several specialized brushing surfaces or cleaning heads have been developed and patented in recent years. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,115,893 and 4,128,910, both issued to Nakata et al, disclose special brushing surfaces or cleaning heads made of soft, resilient materials which effectively clean the teeth and massage the gums without causing discomfort or pain for the children. It is hoped that these newly developed brushing surfaces or cleaning heads will make brushing a more pleasant and enjoyable experience for the children, thereby helping such children to develop positive oral hygiene and brushing habits early in their lives. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,921 to Dinner discloses an infant toothbrush having a handle in the form of an oval ring to facilitate gripping by an infant and with an array of bristles extending in alignment with the major axis of the ring.
However, the development of these brush heads only goes part way toward helping children develop positive oral hygiene and brushing habits. Typically, it is easier for a parent when first instructing a child in toothbrushing to make a "game" of it, or otherwise make the learning experience as enjoyable for the child as possible. Thus, many parents may desire to allow their children to have continuous access to their toothbrushes in much the same way as parents might allow continuous access to pacifiers or other such toys that children usually enjoy placing in their mouths. Such continuous access could enhance the enjoyability of the brushing experience for the children and consequently could aid in helping the children develop positive brushing habits. Unfortunately, such a teaching technique can be dangerous with the currently available straight or elongated handle toothbrush designs due to the possible hazard of a toothbrush becoming lodged in a child's throat should he or she fall with the toothbrush in his or her mouth. For instance, a recent survey by the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that in 1988, 1,069 persons received emergency treatment for toothbrush related injuries. Of that number 62% of those were aged from zero to four years. This hazard also exists with the new brush head designs, such as, those disclosed in the Nakata patents described above because those new brush heads still use the conventional straight or elongated handle design.
Another special brushing need for infants and small children is the need for a handle design that is easy to grip and manipulate. Most current toothbrush designs with simple straight handles are very difficult for children to manipulate, because they generally lack the coordination and motor skills of adults for which most of these conventional handles are designed. Furthermore, such straight handle designs are very difficult to use by persons who have manual disabilities, such as, arthritis or coordination or motor skill deficiencies.
A most important consideration is that the handle be of a size and configuration that will alleviate trauma should the user fall at an angle in which one of the corners of the handle could stab the user. At the same time, it is desirable that the handle can be grasped by the infant or toddler to exert stronger brushing pressure on the teeth with substantially less effort so as to result in more thorough cleaning and that the mouth contacting portion of the brush widen at an angle which will reduce the danger of trauma from injury to the back of the mouth. In this relation, it is desirable that the handle be dimensioned to prevent lodging of the toothbrush in the mouth or throat.